


The dancing soldier

by JAKishu



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Dancing, Dark Past, Death, Family Secrets, Fighting, Gen, Minor Character Death, Pre-Series, Rumours, SOLDIER - Freeform, Titan, Training, dance, expedition - Freeform, surprised levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 21:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30095514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JAKishu/pseuds/JAKishu
Summary: Levi finds himself in the presence of an interesting soldier. The new recruit shows no special abilities but Erwin told him that they finally got another diamond, like him. A rare fighter, he just can´t see it now.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	The dancing soldier

Levi looks over the resumes of their new soldiers. Nothing special, no one from the top ranking just some crazy people that are suicidal enough to join and the ones that are not good enough for the other branches, that got rejected and had to join. He throws the papers back on his desk.

“We really need good people, or our death rate will rise again and we get less every time. Honestly how should I work with that. How can it be that no one wants to fight?” Levi is annoyed.

“Oh, I thought there is someone very interesting.” Erwin counters and let Levi study the papers again.

“I don´t see it. No one stands out either with their physical or their academic abilities.” Erwin picks one of the papers and offers it to him. Levi looks at the information. Soldiers name Sora Rakuen. Age 15, born in Sina. Working with the Gear is good, academic good. “What about her?”

“Her family.” Erwin seems to understand that Levi has no idea what her family does. “The Rakuen, are … lets call them assassin. Or better they are on the kings calling. Since the walls exist the family serves the king and gets rid of everyone that could be a threat to the kingdom or the king.“

“Are you sure she is part of that, shouldn’t assassin be good at killing. Her marks don’t support your clam that she is some super warrior.” Levi can´t see it.

“You will see it. The family has a very interesting way of killing, they created their own style of killing. I never thought one of them would get away from their inheritance. But honestly, I never heard about a daughter. Only know about the two sons.” Erwin continues. “But better having her here. You should greet your new soldiers; you have to train them and get them ready. And Levi, please don’t kill them before the titans have a go on them.”

“I will try but when they don’t do what I tell them I will see punishment as I see fit.” Levi get´s up and leaves Erwin´s office.

Rakuen? The name means Paradise. He might have heard about it, but he thought it was a myth. A bedtime story to tell your children so they won´t act out.

_The paradise monsters that will kill you with their deadly dance with their beautiful blue eyes shining and reflecting the light of the moon in silver blades, covered in red blood and they smile as only the dance with the soon to be dead would bring life in the soulless bodies._

* * *

Levi would describe the training as … it happened. He can say that the new recruits are without a doubt not from the top 10 and it makes him scream inside. Why the hell did the best go the furthest away from any titan. He takes a deep breath the one thing that he had notice is that Erwin was right with his assumption about the potential of the Rakuen girl.

“Did you hold back on purpose?” Levi asks her as she was leaving the training feel for dinner. She looks at him with her blue eyes as if she sees him for the first time. He had notice her absent the whole training. She did what he had asked her to do and wasn’t as bad as her marks would say but there wasn’t a spark of life in her eyes.

“For a dance I need a partner. Without it why should I dance.” Sora Rakuen answers and without waiting for him she follows the others to the dining hall. Leaving Levi behind. What did she mean with partner?

Levi shakes his head and heads back to the castle, there are a lot of papers to sign and preparation to be made for the next mission. He hopes that a few of the new soldiers will survive. He doesn’t want them to throw away their life. Her empty eyes stay in his mind and he sees them everywhere. When she eats, during free time, talking with her teammates or when she is cleaning out the stables. As if she is missing something that only someone special can give her.

* * *

The Survey Corps waits in front of the gate, another mission and Levi see the miserable faces of his following soldiers. The new ones are more then afraid, they would shit their pants if they had been able to eat anything the last two days. The others are just ready to face the horror that cages humanity another time.

As the gate opens Levi let his horse follow the long line of soldiers, ignoring the faces in the crowd that doesn’t believe in their mission. Levi tries to keep his eyes on the new recruits but as the titans come on the second day he isn’t able to anymore.

A group of abnormal titans attack, early in the morning when most titans are still in their slumber, feeding on sunlight and waiting for their bodies to wake up. Not them. They are ready for breakfast and the titans are hungry.

Erwin gives the order to draw back to the forest and whoever is still alive tries to follow this order. They must have found some nest or something because wherever they go more titans appear and chase the survivor to the forest. Many soldiers getting picked up before they can reach the trees. Levi is one of the last trying to hold off the increasing number of enemies that surrounded them. The trees wouldn’t be safe forever. The titan´s would start climbing, walking over one another and reaching for the lower branches. This mission had gone to shit very quickly, he thought as the first trees come in sight.

Levi has his own crowd of follower, three 13-meter titans and he is low on gas. He would curse his existence, but he has no time for it. All he can do is get to the forest, to whoever is still alive and get more gas to kill the titans. They need to kill them before they can retry into the wall. At least Levi hopes that is Erwin´s plan, if Erwin is still alive.

The forest is close and Levi can see the soldiers on the branches. Many titans surround them and he is not sure he will make it. As suddenly one of the soldiers falls of the tree. No, she let herself fall. Levi sees the blond hair and is pretty sure he knows who it is.

* * *

The smell of blood is in the air and down there are her dancing partners. Its as if her soul had finally awakened after a long slumber. The wind sings and give her the rhythms she needs like the air to breath. Her heart jumps into the song and Sora let go of her hold into this world. The ground comes closer, fast, but she didn’t mind. Her dance doesn’t require her feet to touch the ground. Just like in the antique ball room of her family’s home with the shadow people around her. She finally can hear the music again. And she dances the deadly dance she was taught by her grandparents and parents and brothers. Generations before her had learned this dance. Studied it, improved it and let their souls and blood be taken from this dance.

She let her blades sing and she follows their song with steps of blood and death into it, no one in her family ever forget how to take these steps, how to hold their body and swing their swords. For the first time she feels alive. Alive and breathing. Taking the monsters and bringing them death. Her partners are perfect, like they have to be. Strong and wilful, goal oriented and in the end dead.

Without a partner her dance is useless, not pretty at all. Sora had learned it the hard way and had refused to dance without her partners. And finally, there they are and so many of them. She is alive and finally free to follow the music of life to bring it death.

* * *

Levi reaches the trees and get himself up with the last of his gas. He isn’t the only one watching her in the sea of titan bodies. He hadn’t thought someone could move like that and he has to say it is beautiful. He hadn’t seen anything like this. Her fighting style is completely different from his, it is fast but not as fast at his, it follows a strange rhythm, one that only she can see, listening to music only she can hear.

“She is dancing.” Erwin whispers. And the old story of the paradise monster with their deadly dance appears in Levi´s mind. Erwin is right she dances, a dance without music anyone except her can hear. Her movement is elegant and as he sees her eyes Levi understand. The person that he had trained and lived in the castle was just a ghost, a shadow. A soulless body that had need her dancing partners, just as she had said. And she is right without a partner this beautiful dance wouldn’t work, she needed them. Her eyes are alive now and for some reason Levi knows exactly what will happen next.

While he tries to get his gas refilled, he hears the betraying sound of an empty gas container and her fall into the thinned crowed of titans. Her eyes shine bright, and Levi sees how Erwin tries to get to her in time but she had been too close to the titans. To focus on her dance to notice or care about it. Levi had known that she would find her end here. Her eyes had told him that. She had been alive again and nothing could have taken her away from the titans, no rescue would have stopped her soul form dying again. Whatever had stopped her once from living would never again take hold of her. This girl might have died but she had been alive for the first time in her life.

They did make it back to the wall thanks to the 17 titans Sora Rakuen had killed that day with her beautiful dance of the dead.


End file.
